CITY of Birmingham Rockets captain Martyn Gayle reflects on a successful week for the club as they stay on course for a play-off place.
A crucial one-point victory over London Cavaliers in front of their home fans set them up for Saturday’s trip to Worthing. And hot on the heels of Gayle’s 500 three-point shot last week, Luke Okosieme broke the all-time NBL Division One record for the number of blocks in a season.
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LAST Saturday’s win against London was crucial in terms of how much it meant to the team, the morale and the league standings.
It really did have the feeling of a cup final and we’ve now got two wins above them which really helps our play-off push. London still have an advantage with the head-to-head, but they also have a really tough run of games coming.
So we knew the severity of the game and I’ve heard from both teams that that was the best defense they’ve played all season. To keep any team under 80 points in this league is a tough feat.
Both teams did that and for it to be only decided by one point, shows how much defense and how much thought process was going into the game.
The atmosphere was fantastic. The fans really enjoyed the level of competitiveness that was on the floor, the discipline that both teams showed and the show of excellence that both teams had. It was just a great game to be a part of.
😤 A crucial win.
Couldn’t make the game? Catch up on the best of the action with our match report or relive the whole game now on our YouTube channel!
📰 Report: https://t.co/O5519Doxe2
Thank you to everyone who cheered us on this evening! 👏#WeAreRockets pic.twitter.com/VlXvRBYOt3
— City of Birmingham Rockets (@cobrockets) March 15, 2025
From our point of view, things are really starting to come together now. From the beginning of the season, we’ve all kind of bought into what the coach wants and the way the game should be played. I think as a team, it took us a bit longer than we wanted it to, but better late than never.
We’re all clicking now. We’re all understanding of each other. We’re all understanding of ourselves, which is very important in this game, because self-reflection and knowing oneself is important in trying to improve every step of every step of the way.
You can’t just think that you can just wing it. You can’t just think that you just going to get by, or not put in the effort. You can only get out, what you put in.
Summing that up is the fact that we have another record-breaker on the team.
Luke’s got that record now and he’s in Division One history. In any one season, he has the most blocks, which is an amazing stat to have that will be with him for as long as it takes for someone to be at that level of basketball.
And I don’t think it comes easy. I think the last person was in the 2015-16, season, and in the last person before that, I don’t even know.
🚫 Record breaker!
Luke Okosieme broke the all-time NBL Division One record for number of blocks in a season last Saturday, with his four blocks against London putting him on 64 for the season – and we’re sure he’s not done there!
Congratulations, Luke! 👏 https://t.co/jFHOOX5LZJ
— City of Birmingham Rockets (@cobrockets) March 19, 2025
Nobody’s come close, and he’s come along and absolutely smashed it. So congratulations to him.
This is what we want to do – keep competing, getting ourselves into the history books, win some silverware maybe and make a strong shout for Birmingham basketball again.
Back in the day we had some fantastic players and now it’s an amazing thing to be a part of.
A must win game in Worthing! #NBL2425 pic.twitter.com/0Owp8Tk24a
— NBL (@NBLengland) March 20, 2025
But we have to keep things going at Worthing on Saturday night.
They are threatened with relegation and if they lose then their fate may be determined.
But anyone can beat anyone in this league and Worthing have won some games this year where they’ve surprised people.
So they’re fighting for survival and we have to be ready for that. We have to prove it out on the floor.
